123 Minn. 377 | Minn. | 1913
The Northern States Investment Company owned a farm in Polk county. It made a contract with W. H. Blake, in substance as follows' :' Blake agreed to till and farm the land during the farming season of 1912, ending December 1; to sow 100 acres in barley, the company to furnish the seed, each to pay half the threshing and twine bill; Blake further agreed to deliver the company’s share of the crop in suitable bins in buildings on the land; to summer fallow part of the land; to furnish all tools, teams and farm implements and all hired help; to maintain the fences, the company to furnish the material therefor; to watch, care for and protect the fruit and shade trees, commit no waste, and suffer none to be done; after taking off the crops he was to plow so much and such parts
In April, 1912, Blake entered into possession under this contract, and has ever since continued in possession. In October, 1912, the ■company sold the premises to Gillilian. On February 17, 1913, Blake was notified of the sale, and that the purchaser would not accept the contract, and that the contract was canceled. The company tendered him payment for the summer following, and Gillilian demanded possession, which was refused.
Gillilian brought suit in unlawful detainer in the municipal ■court of Crookston and obtained judgment for restitution of the premises. Blake appealed. Gillilian thereupon presented to said ■court his undertaking, as provided by E. L. 1905, § 4047, as amended by chapter 496, p. 620, Laws 1909 (G. S. 1913, § 7667), and demanded that a writ of restitution issue. The court and clerk refused. Thereupon this mandamus proceeding was commenced to require them to issue the writ.
Defendants contend that the appeal from the judgment of the municipal court in the unlawful detainer action stayed the power of the municipal court to issue a writ of restitution. It did do so, unless the giving of the bond by plaintiff imposed upon the court the duty to issue the writ notwithstanding the appeal. The giving of the
“Upon the taking of such appeal all further proceedings in the case shall be stayed, except that in an action on a lease against a tenant holding over after the expiration of the term thereof or termination thereof by notice to quit, if the plaintiff give bond. * * *, a writ of restitution shall issue as if no appeal had been taken.”
Defendants claim the statute does not apply. The claim is: (1) That this contract is not a lease; (2) that if the contract is a lease, Blake was not “holding over after the expiration of the term thereof or termination thereof by notice to quit.” '
The parties have styled this contract a “lease.” It is for a fixed term. It prohibits subletting. It contemplates “possession” and ■“use” of the land by Blake, and he took and still holds possession under it; and it provides that the owner may “enter” upon the premises and retake possession in case of default. It provides that Blake is to keep the fences in repair, to commit no waste and suffer none to be done, and to “deliver” the owner’s share of the crop. •Clearly the contract is a lease, and Blake is a tenant.
The case of Porter v. Chandler, 27 Minn. 301, 7 N. W. 142, 38 Am. Rep. 293, is relied on by appellants. A cropping contract before the court in that case was held to be a contract of hiring. That case is readily distinguishable from the case at bar. In that case the contract in terms provided that Porter, the landowner, hired and employed the croppers to work, till, and carry on the premises, and agreed, as compensation for their services, labor and expenditures, to pay them one-half of the grain, and it was expressly stipulated that the land “shall be and remain in the possession of the said A. L. Porter and under his absolute control and supervision, and all the work and labor to be done on said farm during said term shall be done thereon * * * according and agreeably to the orders and directions of the said A. L. Porter.” The distinction between that contract and this one is fundamental.
Order affirmed.